NS Dev
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:01 PM |
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van rear door mods, car transport!
Bear with me here!
I am currently considering replacing my tow car and trailer combi with a van.
I reckon my trailer is worth £500 quid ish going by ebay sales of late (4 wheeler in decent-ish nick) which will help buy the van.
The issue is I want to get the grasser INTO the van!!!
Length isn't an issue, even the shortest LWB vans are plenty long enough, and I'll be building ramps inside to pull the car up on electric
winch over the wheelarches inside.
The issue is the rear door pillars.
I have measured transit, sprinter and LDV convoy and they are 62 to 63 inches door opening, and I need at least 66 inches.
The obvious options are luton or "walk-through" laundry van, but some of the time it will be used as daily transport (when its too wet for
the locost! ) and they are just too ugly and either slow or thirsty really.
What I have seen done, and had recommended to me, is to cut out the rear door pillars on a std lwb van, then reattach these to the rear doors and
rehang them on new narrower pillars, thus gaining loading width, bearing in mind I only need 4 or 5 inches more really.
Has anybody ever done this?? I have been looking closely at an LDV Convoy today as it was a mate's at work and they are cheap and have a transit
engine and box so reliable ish as well. The doors look a pain to rehang though!!
Any advice???
Car is 66" wide and around 90" long overall
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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chris_smith
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:19 PM |
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flat bed van?
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NS Dev
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:19 PM |
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nah, want it enclosed, want to sleep in it when away racing as well!
Just a thought, how wide is a BT van fibreglass body (the modern one)??
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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omega 24 v6
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:20 PM |
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I've seen this done on some of the older bull nose merc vans. Rear bulkhead was sealed up tight (air tight for fumes) and the rear doors removed
and replaced with a bespoke fold up ramp. The rear door pillars did not need to be cut/removed at all.
If it looks wrong it probably is wrong.
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fatfranky
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:44 PM |
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Didn't some Royal Mail LDV Convoys a couple of years ago have the rear doors replaced with a roller shutter.
I don't think that that theirs were any wider than the van doors- possibly for backing right up to loading docks, but you could cut away the
pillars and perhaps replace with a bespoke frame with either roller shutters or drop down ramp a la horsebox
Please see attached CAD Drawing
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=6558_1.jpg
Frank
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Simon
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:44 PM |
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Put narrower wheels on grasser prior to loading up?
ATB
Simon
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NS Dev
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 06:51 PM |
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sadly new grasser has full bodywork, pretty much as wide as the wheels!
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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carpmart
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 07:03 PM |
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I have faced exactly this dilemma in recent months to get my Drakart to and from events and tow a caravan as well. I looked at all the vans I could
but none would work even with door mods! Went for a low roof Luton van in the end as nothing else would work! Its pretty smart and now I have put a
Dragon performance box on there it tows all day long at 60 - 65 even up hills! 
So, my advice is a Luton van! They do vary quite a bit in height and mine is less that six foot from the bed to ceiling so no where near as cuby as
many.
It actually looks pretty smart!
I've attached a couple of pics in my photo archive under Luton Van
[Edited on 12/6/08 by carpmart]
You only live once - make the most of it!
Radical Clubsport, Kwaker motor
'94 MX5 MK1, 1.8
F10 M5 - 600bhp Daily Hack
Range Rover Sport - Wife's Car
Mercedes A class - Son's Car
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blakep82
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 07:09 PM |
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take the doors off, flog them on ebay, steel box section type frame with a roller shutter type door? is that a possibility?
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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NS Dev
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 07:14 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
I have faced exactly this dilemma in recent months to get my Drakart to and from events and tow a caravan as well. I looked at all the vans I could
but none would work even with door mods! Went for a low roof Luton van in the end as nothing else would work! Its pretty smart and now I have put a
Dragon performance box on there it tows all day long at 60 - 65 even up hills!
So, my advice is a Luton van! They do vary quite a bit in height and mine is less that six foot from the bed to ceiling so no where near as cuby as
many.
It actually looks pretty smart!
I've attached a couple of pics in my photo archive under Luton Van
[Edited on 12/6/08 by carpmart]
hey that's the sort of thing!!!
Looks MUCH more expensive that what I want to spend BUT is just the right sort of idea!!
The closest i have found on a budget so far is an ex BT luton, which is quite low, transit based and doesn't look too crap.
Yours looks just the job, my mrs wouldn't complain too much about that sat in front of the house, and the graphics help a lot too.
I can get them done very cheaply so will go for the same idea, makes it look a lot less "pikey" than it otherwise could!! lol
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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carpmart
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 07:16 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
I have faced exactly this dilemma in recent months to get my Drakart to and from events and tow a caravan as well. I looked at all the vans I could
but none would work even with door mods! Went for a low roof Luton van in the end as nothing else would work! Its pretty smart and now I have put a
Dragon performance box on there it tows all day long at 60 - 65 even up hills!
So, my advice is a Luton van! They do vary quite a bit in height and mine is less that six foot from the bed to ceiling so no where near as cuby as
many.
It actually looks pretty smart!
I've attached a couple of pics in my photo archive under Luton Van
[Edited on 12/6/08 by carpmart]
hey that's the sort of thing!!!
Looks MUCH more expensive that what I want to spend BUT is just the right sort of idea!!
The closest i have found on a budget so far is an ex BT luton, which is quite low, transit based and doesn't look too crap.
Yours looks just the job, my mrs wouldn't complain too much about that sat in front of the house, and the graphics help a lot too.
I can get them done very cheaply so will go for the same idea, makes it look a lot less "pikey" than it otherwise could!! lol
Thats exactly why they are on there as with a caravan on the back we looked like a right old pikey crew!
You only live once - make the most of it!
Radical Clubsport, Kwaker motor
'94 MX5 MK1, 1.8
F10 M5 - 600bhp Daily Hack
Range Rover Sport - Wife's Car
Mercedes A class - Son's Car
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BenB
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 09:07 PM |
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What about something like
from
here
and Locost up a nice aerodynamic cover for the car... Much nicer and probably easier on the juice than a Luton (aerodynamics of a brick) van....
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MikeR
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 10:06 PM |
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bit of angle iron each corner and some ali would soon have that boxed in .........
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NS Dev
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| posted on 13/6/08 at 02:58 PM |
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I used to run a bedford CF van for rally service, with the same 2.3 litre normally aspirated diesel that that one has in..................never
again!!
sorry!!
25mph fully loaded towing trailer over shap summit on the M6 is etched forever into my memory, the fear as the artics JUSSST swerved round it was not
good!!!
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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